No good without you
by atakino-zane
Summary: We all know what happened with Haku and Zabuza during the land of the waves. But what about the events that led up to it?
1. Chapter 1: No good without you

Well, it's me. I'm going to have a fan fiction like this.

Warning: Zabuza-Haku pairing.

Redundancy report: Not my characters.

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The rain drizzled lightly on the grass as Haku adjusted the tie in his hair. The bun at the top of his head was going to get heavy if the rain kept up like it was. He pulled it out and let his long dark hair fall to his shoulders. It felt good on the back of his neck, cool and damp after a long hot day.

Zabuza was up ahead, scouting out a good place to camp for the night. They were headed to the wave country to complete a mission for some business man that Haku didn't much care for. The pair had only just received the mission, though; their goal (whatever it was) was far off enough that he didn't know the details yet.

Playfully with his Kekkai Genkai abilities, Haku began to play around with some raindrops as they fell. He smiled slightly as the droplets did loop-de-loops and shone with an icy diamond light.

"Haku?"

The droplets fell to the ground and Haku looked up. "Yes, Zabuza-san?" He looked annoyed.

"What are you doing back there? I thought there was trouble."

Haku blushed. "Nothing, sir." Zabuza must have sensed Haku melding his chakra from a distance and wanted to check on him. _I shouldn't have worried him…_

Zabuza sighed gruffly and headed back.

"I found somewhere sheltered from the rain," was all he said. Haku nodded and followed.

The rain got heavier and lightning danced across the sky. A gentle but cool wind raced along the ground. Water splashed up at Haku's feet with every step. He was beginning to wonder how much further they were when he saw the trees up ahead.

"It's just a little ways in this forest," said Zabuza shortly without turning around.

Haku nodded. His nose tingled and he barely held back a soft sneeze. He hugged his arms around his now soaked clothes; he was just beginning to shiver.

It was slightly warmer under the trees, with no wind and no rain, but still, the night had brought a chill that Haku couldn't stand up to in his wet clothes. He sneezed, this time not being able to hold it back.

"Hm?" Zabuza turned around. "You getting sick?"

"No, I'll be fine," replied Haku with his usual smile. He continued walking behind Zabuza. "Don't worry about me."

However, he was lying to Zabuza. The ex-mist ninja was prone to catching colds when his clothes were wet and cold. He usually avoided the situation, but at this point in time it had been unavoidable.

Haku sniffled, trying to keep his composure. _How much further along is it?_ He shivered more, trying to ignore it.

The trees thickened. He heard Zabuza's voice up ahead, but his eyes were on his feet. He could feel a fever creeping on and was beginning to get dizzy.

"We're almost there, Haku."

"… All right," he answered softly.

Zabuza stopped and turned around. "You all right back there, Haku?"

"Mm Hm," mumbled Haku. Suddenly, he seemed to be getting very dizzy...

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Haku lifted his eyelids. He was warm and mostly dry, and the rain and wind were barely an echo. There was a fire near by, although far enough away to be safe. Zabuza sat across the blaze, sharpening his sword. They were in a small earthen cave. Every once and a while, lightning and thunder danced together.

Haku sat up and the blankets, all of the ones that they had brought with them, slid down. He realized that he wasn't wearing anything and pulled the blankets back up around his cold, exposed shoulders. Zabuza must have seen him move, for he spoke.

"You have a fever. You're sick."

Haku's dark, sad eyes dropped; he blushed and looked shameful. "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san. I shouldn't have told you that I was all right."

Zabuza shrugged, putting down the sword. "You'll be fine once you rest. That's what matters."

Haku looked up at him, smiling. "See, you do care."

"Hmph." He got up and walked over to teh back of the cave, towards Haku. "You're no use to me if you're sick," he added gruffly and sat against the dirty wall of the cave.

Haku got up, the blankets still wrapped warmly around him. He walked a few shaky steps over to Zabuza and passed him the blanket that was on top. Haku's blankets slid down, revealing the pale skin of his arm and chest.

"Hm?"

"You must be cold. I can see you're still wet." He took another step closer and faltered, going to his knees. Haku began to shiver uncontrollably.

Zabuza reached over and put a hand to his forehead. "You're fever's gotten worse. Lay down and sleep, Haku."

"Not until I know you're taking care of yourself, too." He leaned close to Zabuza, forcing the other blanket over to him. Still dizzy, he lost his balance and fell into Zabuza.

"You never give up, do you?"

Haku shook his head stubbornly, looking into his master's thin eyes. He leaned closer, face right beside Zabuza's; their lips almost touched. Then...

Haku fell asleep in Zabuza's arms before he could kiss Zabuza. The older man sighed. "You're so innocent," he whispered to himself as he wrapped the blankets tightly around Haku. Zabuza's hand lingered on the blanket Haku had handed him and hesitantly threw it around his shoulders, seeking its warmth. "That's what I love about you."

All right, first chapter of this. I love writing this so much, so I hoped you liked reading it. I'll write more, probably up to (and into?) the land of the waves part that actually happens in the series.

Reviews appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2: This is what I want

The tall trees made excellent cover for the roofed house. It looked not unlike a giant mushroom among the mossy forest just outside channel to the wave country, and for the past few days, Haku and Zabuza had considered it a temporary haven.

Haku lie on the bed, playfully feeding their distraction, the rabbit, a carrot. He was smiling so cutely that Zabuza couldn't help but smile to. He walked over to his young companion and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You know, Haku, sometimes I think you're too innocent for all this."

Haku looked up at him. His long dark hair spilled over his shoulders. A few random strands had been braided at one point. "I'd rather be nowhere but with you, Zabuza-san." He sat up looked back to the rabbit, feeding it the last of the carrot. "Whatever you ask of me, I will do."

Zabuza rolled his eyes. As useful as the boy was, the 'tool' thing got a little annoying once and a while. "Don't you ever do something because you just want to?"

Haku smiled and looked back at Zabuza. "Sometimes. I can think of something I want to do right now, for instance."

"All right, then do it."

Haku smiled and stood up. "Fine. But close your eyes." He giggled playfully. _What's he getting at?_ thought Zabuza.

But, at the boy's insistance, he closed his eyes. A moment went by, and then he felt something he did not expect.

Haku's arms went around his kneck and Zabuza opened his eyes to see the boy standing on his tip-toes. "This is what I want," Haku whispered gently.

Zabuza lowered his head to where Haku could reach it and they kissed softly. It couldn't have lasted long, but it felt to both of them that it did.

Haku pulled away and pushed the front of his hair over his ear. Zabuza smiled. "You should do what you want more often, Haku."

Haku looked away, blushing. He let go of Zabuza and took a step away. "You should probably go meet with Gato's henchmen, now. We need to know our mission."

Zabuza nodded and picked up his sword. "I won't be long; be ready to leave when I get back."

Haku smiled. "Of course I will," he said.

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Zabuza walked through the door of the large room; Haku was inside, boredly tossing senbon at a dart board. They clicked together at the bull's eye. Zabuza smiled. _That boy has near perfect aim..._

"Haku, I've got our assignment."

"Great," the boy sighed. Haku walked over to the dart board and pulled out the slender needles. "What are we to do?"

"Well, the bridge builder's apparently hired some ninja from Konahagakure to aid him. They think it's only a low level mission, however. It's one Jounin and three Genin."

Haku smiled. "So the bridge builder lied?"

"Yeah. Not gonna help him, no matter what he does." Zabuza laughed. "You might as well stay back; I'll take care of them, and if things go wrong, then we'll still have the element of surprise."

Haku nodded. Zabuza started for the door and Haku followed, but at the last moment, Zabuza turned around.

"Oh, and bring the distraction."

Haku turned around. He knew what Zabuza was talking about; he bent down and gently unclicked the cages latch. Out hopped a small white rabbit. Haku picked it up gently. In the days they'd had it, ever since the first signs of spring, it had grown to trust the feminine boy.

He held it tight enough to stop any attempted escape, and then followed Zabuza.

It turned out that the four hired ninjas were not far from Haku and Zabuza's location.

"Release the distraction," whispered Zabuza. "We're close enough to them. And you stay back now."

Haku nodded and put down the rabbit, smiling at it and then at his master. "Be careful, Zabuza-san."

He stayed back in the trees while the weilder of (guillitine blade) dissappeared into the trees.

Haku stalked behind, just out of detection, and watched the scene between the ninjas and Zabuza commence. He wasn't watching Zabuza distinctively, though; he was assessing the abilities of their enemies.

There was a short blonde kid that didn't seem like much of a problem; he had a big mouth and it appeared that stealth was beyond him. However, he also appeared to be almost as stubborn as Haku himself was.

Another was a pink haired girl. She stayed by the bridge builder the whole time, not aiding in the fighting and presenting more of a target than anything else. Haku stored that information away for later use; after all, she was vulnerable and her team mates probably cared for her.

The third Genin was more of a threat; taller than the other two and with dark hair and eyes, he showed more skill than either.

The Jounin was obviously the adult of the group. He was tall and had ragged grey hair and a mask. He also sported the dark vest associated with the Konahagakure ninjas ranked chuunin or higher. Haku watched him closely and marvled at his abilities of Sharingan. _That will definately be important_.

As Haku watched them eventually pummel Zabuza, he felt every blow as if it had landed on him. The quartet had cornered Zabuza against a tree, and he would most likely die soon.

_I have to do something!_ Slipping on the hunter-nin mask, Haku jumped up to a tree and three a few senbon accurately at Zabuza's throat, inducing a near-death state. _Sorry, Zabuza-san, but you'll thank me later._

The four looked up at Haku.

"Sorry about that, but I wanted to be the one that killed him," he said simply, hopping down. The four discussed something, but Haku wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He picked up Zabuza's unmoving body and nodded to the leaf ninjas.

"Thankyou for making this easier."

Then he poofed a little ways into the trees.

Once in the safety of the trees, he breathed a sigh of relief. He put Zabuza down gently, and set to removing the bandages over Zabuza's mouth, so as to safely remove the needles. Just as he was about to begin, Zabuza awoke.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Saving you," said Haku.

"Yeesh..." Zabuza roughly yanked out the needles.

"Be careful!" said Haku with concern. He reached over to help but Zabuza swatted his hands away. "You might really die if you hit anything when you remove those."

"Ah, I'll be fine. And take off that mask..."

"All right. I almost forgot; it's so easy to slip into old habits." Haku removed the mask and smiled softly. "At least they didn't kill you."

Zabuza snorted. "Stupid kids... I underestimated their courage, or it would have been easy." Zabuza shakily pushed himself up, but Haku pushed him back down. Zabuza looked up with a questioning scowl.

"Now, now, you've got to rest. It'll take a while to recover from being in a near death state, although I think, with your strength, it shouldn't take more than a week." Haku smiled stubbornly.

Zabuza grinned. "You always win these arguments, don't you, Haku?"

"Of course," he replied, smiling.

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All right, about the parts that connect, I tknow that it 's not exactly what they say; I was going by memory. I got the gist of it, so that's good enough. Reviews appreciated, and I wrote this without a program for spellcheck, so if you catch any typos that I didn't, just lemme know. :P


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